By Mark Murray - NBC News
Following the surge in COVID-19 cases and bipartisan criticism of the chaos of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden's overall approval rating
has dropped below 50% among adults for the first time.
since the beginning of his tenure, according to a new NBC News poll.
The poll also revealed that fewer Americans currently support Biden's handling of the coronavirus and the economy, compared to last spring, and
only a quarter of those polled approve of his handling of Afghanistan.
The findings show that, since April, public opinion has become more pessimistic about the coronavirus.
In addition, the country is divided on issues such as the mandatory nature of vaccines against COVID-19 and
which is the political party that Congress should control
after the midterm elections in 2022.
F-18 fighter jets fly over Kabul as a security measure for US evacuation
Aug. 19, 202101: 42
[Biden authorizes the deployment of 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to supervise the "orderly and safe" departure of US personnel]
All of that has produced
a "summer of discontent" against Biden,
said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this poll with Republican specialist Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.
"The promises of April have turned into the dangers of August," Horwitt said, arguing that COVID-19, more than Afghanistan, has depleted Biden's numbers.
"It is a domestic storm
, the delta variant is what is causing the most difficulties
in this stage of the country and for President Biden."
McInturff agrees.
"The best way to understand this poll is to forget about Afghanistan," he said.
"It will be simple": so you can receive the additional dose of the vaccine against COVID-19
Aug. 19, 202101: 40
[A 13-year-old student dies from COVID-19 while childhood infections and quarantined students multiply]
According to the formal poll,
49% of adults approve of Biden's overall performance, while 48% disapprove.
That's lower than the April NBC News poll numbers, when 53% of adults approved of Biden's work and 39% disapproved, some of the biggest declines were among independents, rural residents, and women. white people.
However, Democrats have stood their ground with 88% approving of Biden's management (in April it was 90%).
Among a smaller sample of registered voters, Biden's current job rating is 50% approve, 48% disapprove, down
from April, when 51% approved of his term and 43% disapproved.
Biden vows to remove all remaining Americans in Afghanistan
Aug. 19, 202103: 06
[Pediatricians ask that all children wear a mask in schools even if they are vaccinated]
(Despite this drop, the current president's approval rating is higher than that of former President Donald Trump in polls throughout his presidency.)
Additionally, the poll revealed that
53% of Americans approve of the president's handling of the coronavirus
(showing a 16-point decline from April) and 47% approve of his handling of the economy (a 5-point drop from spring).
And only 25% approve of Biden's handling of Afghanistan,
while 60% disapprove.
The NBC News poll was conducted Aug. 14-17, before, during and after Afghanistan's capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.
Although most Americans disapprove of Biden's handling of Afghanistan, they also oppose the two-decade-long war that was fought in that country.
61% believe that the war was not worth it, compared to 29% who say yes, both figures are practically identical to those of the last time this question was asked, in 2014.
President Joe Biden during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on March 25. Getty Images
["It's frightening". Children's hospitals are filling up due to the increase in COVID-19 cases among children]
An increasingly pessimistic public opinion
According to the NBC News poll, what has changed for Biden since April is that he now faces a more pessimistic audience.
Overall,
only 29% of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction
, a 7-point decrease from the last query.
The majority of Americans, 54%, say they feel very worried and pessimistic about the future of the country, compared to 44% who say they are hopeful and optimistic.
["Make sure my children get vaccinated": a mother dies days after her husband after catching COVID-19]
Only 24% describe the current state of the economy as excellent or good.
Regarding the coronavirus, 37% of those surveyed say that the worst is over, while
42% say that the worst is yet to come.
That's a significant change from April, when 61% of Americans said the worst was over, compared to 19% who said the worst was yet to come.
Biden Administration Unveils Asylum System Reform
Aug. 18, 202101: 33
[These are the reasons why the Government will recommend a booster dose for immunized people]
A deeply divided nation
Furthermore, the formal poll shows that deep divisions persist in the country, despite Biden's call for unity in his inaugural address.
88% of Democrats approve of Biden's overall performance, while 88% of Republicans disapprove.
(The independents are divided in half: 46% approve and 46% disapprove.)
47% of registered voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 46% want Republicans to dominate that instance.
(That's less than the Democrats' 5-point lead on that issue in April.)
Telemundo News 6:30 pm, August 16, 2021
Aug. 17, 202118: 26
["I can't watch them die like this." An Alabama doctor refuses to treat his patients if they don't get vaccinated against the coronavirus]
50% of Democrats rank the coronavirus as one of the most important problems
facing the country (compared to 13% of Republicans who feel the same), while 51% of Republicans see border security and immigration as one of the top problems (compared to just 4% of Democrats).
48% of Americans support requiring all eligible people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 50% who oppose.
Even Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, receives split scores in the survey:
40% of the public views it positively and 36% have a negative perception.
(In the survey a year ago, Fauci's rating was 50% positive and 13% negative.)
"We are still in a red and blue country, we are not in a red, white and blue America," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart.
These were the mistakes of the Biden Administration in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to an expert
Aug. 16, 202 105: 33
["I did not get vaccinated, I did not help myself": the crude testimony of a COVID-19 patient who fights for her life]
Other findings from the survey
69% of Americans say they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while 13% say they will not receive it under any circumstances (the rest say they will receive it as soon as possible, wait or only get vaccinated if it is mandatory)
40% say that Biden has accomplished a lot or a lot as president, while 58% disagree.
35% of Americans say that the COVID relief legislation passed in March is helping to improve the economy or will do so in the future, compared to 38% who believe it will not help or affect the economy;
27% have no opinion or say they do not feel safe to comment on the issue.
The NBC News poll was conducted Aug. 14-17 of 1,000 adults, 600 of whom only use cell phones, and the overall margin of error in the poll is about 3.1 percentage points.
Of the 790 registered voters who participated in the poll, the margin of error is approximately 3.5 percentage points.
